Odd partners

credit: Zanskar, dreamtime.com

I was doing my weekend stroll with a friend, me: looking for a yoga mat, him: doing groceries. Our destination of the day was one of the largest malls in the city. It's insanely big, I cannot comprehend the very purpose of the building, other than: 1) housing the hardware shop and supermarket we headed for, 2) providing a sore sight on a blue-sky background. It was sunny and the weather was nice (read: quite hot). My friend complained about the lack of pollution layer on the weekends, as always.

We managed to waste our time in the hardware store, because apparently we shared the same fetish when it comes to any hardware store. I like the neat alignment and he likes hardware. We are both weird with a different way. Later on after a quite long hardwarergasm, we stood at the plaza of the first floor of the mall. We knew we had to eat. The question "where" has always been a constant problem in our everyday routine. So, we stood there for I don't know how long, definitely long enough to attract people's attention. And watching other people.

I was eating a chocolate bar, while my friend stood looking bored. He's tall and I'm pixie size, which made us look a bit dysfunctional. Plus our significant age difference and colours. We became the-best-to-avoid-sight-of-the-day. But lo and behold! After standing around for about 10 minutes, while munching away my chocolate bar, we saw one couple walking pass us. The man, white, in his late 30's, semi-bald, not so good looking with a normal outfit. The girl, chocolate, super skinny with thin flat legs, probably in her early 20's, long hair, full on make-up, not so good looking with a skanky outfit. She was all over him. Naturally.

I stared at them (yes, I know that's impolite) while they walked away. She was laughing quite loudly while at the same time trying to dig her nails onto the poor man's flesh. Oh. Wait a minute. He's not poor. He's just semi-bald. Anyway, what gave her away was her overall appearance. She is not horrendously ugly or anything. Not beautiful, but not bad either. She definitely could have made herself look more interesting if she uses her slimness to her advantage. Plus her outfit was just way too skanky for someone who doesn't think that one's body is one's source of income. And I mean literally, not metaphorically.

Apparently there is another couple trailing behind these two lovebirds. Strikingly similar to the first one. Probably they know each other. Odd enough, the second girl has the same appearance. She was wearing a short summer dress though, unlike the super short red mini skirt the other girl had. She also looked anorexic, a healthy six-year-old will fit her dress.

At that point I only had degrading judgment upon these girls. I know it's unfair and sexist, and probably, hypocrite. Sadly though, I know I won't be the only person who would think that way. It's easier to judge by the cover. And that's why people create brand or image. What about these girls? Were they doing it on purpose because they embrace whatever stigma coming from other people? Because they just didn't care? Because they didn't realise it?

I was disturbed because these women exposed themselves to social judgment. The problem is, IMHO, they did it on the wrong way. The same with the men. If I want to make a comparison, I basically did the same thing by standing on the plaza with my friend. As individuals, nothing's wrong with us. Pair us together, you start thinking there must be something wrong with the picture. And of course it's judgmental. Everything is.

I wonder though if those girls chose an entirely different outfit (say, a knee-long free flowing summer dress with flat shoes or a loose t-shirt with a short skirt and wedges), would I have thought differently about them?